A Series of Not So Unfortunate Events
by XxKarissaShayexX
Summary: Casey has stumbled and tripped, fell and clumsied her way into many situations, but what happens when Derek starts picking up these klutzy habits? A story of the unconventialities of love and the bumby, wobbly road to find it. Dasey. Rated T just in case.
1. Invisible Children

Okay, umm, so. I'm a horrible person. I haven't updated my THREE other stories in forever and I'm already writing up another one. Why? Well, refer back to second sentence...and because I'm also losing interest in my other stories (note to self: never do sequels unless prepared for it!!) and this is my first_ plausible_ idea in a long time. I'm not that good of a writer, so I'm hoping that I can get better through this story. I plan on working extra hard on this one...for both, my sake and yours (my wonderful, loyal readers and reviewers...who are also readers). So, please (again) exonerate me for being so horrible. So, I should quit the jabbering and move this along. Yeah.

Disclaimer: I do not own Life with Derek, _however_ I do own a spoon.

--

It was an utmost ordinary day for Derek - or as ordinary as a day for him could ever get - living each day with a keener perfectionist and all. He had gotten up, threw on clothes that he thought were half clean - therefore, they were wearing material - managed to scrape the stubble off of his face without slicing his skin, and brush his fingers through his unruly hair tiredly. After looking at the mirror to admire his messy, but not too messy, look - a ritual he practiced each day - he skipped off down the stairs for breakfast.

Upon entering the kitchen, he wasn't surprised to be met with the other members of his wacky family - each in a different mood; Marti - stubborn, not wanting to eat at the counter, Edwin - sleepy, Nora - stressed, Lizzie - happy, George - confused, he - yet again - could not find his keys, and, of course, how could he have forgotten the last and most infuriating member - Casey, who was as peppy as ever, maybe even more so - if that was actually possible. She was happily finishing up her protein bar - how she could eat so little, Derek would never know.

She was strangely happier than normal, with a smile that lit up her entire face and humming a sweet tune to herself. Derek was almost - dare he say - curious as to why she was so happy. Usually, she'd already find some reason to yell at him, which he almost couldn't blame her for that. He always found a way to poke at her, whether that would be by making snide comments or talking with his mouth full of cereal.

Derek suddenly - and shockingly - lost his appetite. He made a move to his car - the Prince - keys. This caused many stares of wonder - why was he getting the keys so soon? He hasn't eaten yet! What's wrong with him?! Derek simply shrugged it off and turned to Casey.

"You coming?" His voice was as indifferent as ever and smile faltered at the strangeness of the situation. Derek _not_ eating? She must be dreaming; in some other reality. She finally came to and shook her head, closing her mouth that had been open.

"Let me get my bag," she said slowly, pointing to the living room. He rolled his eyes once and continued on to the garage.

He started up the car with a sigh, leaning his head back against the seat and letting his body go limp. He was tired, having stayed up late that night, trying to finish his - his homework. Gasp and yes, _The Derek Venturi_ trying to finish his _homework. _Well, it did happen to be senior year and he most definitely didn't want to fail any classes - again - and not graduate with the rest of his class. It would be terrifying to see Casey walk up to the podium, smiling like never before, giving her speech - heaven forbid if she was not valedictorian - her hair perfectly curled, looking as beautiful as she was everyday - Derek shook his head to rid his thoughts, not wanting to see where else they would be going.

Derek sighed once more and opened his eyes to see Casey staring at him from the passenger side. Her brow was creased in the center as if she was trying to figure out what was going on in his head. He raised his eyebrows at in question.

"Yes?" He asked. Casey straightened up and smirked a little.

"Whatever you were thinking about was probably amusing," she stated. It was Derek's turn to have a look of utter confusion on his face.

"What?"

"Well, you were frowning and then smiling and then chuckling and then you suddenly frowned and shook your head and that's when you sighed and opened your eyes," she said, giving out a short laugh. Derek raised his eyebrows at what he'd been doing without knowing it. He said nothing and turned back to the steering wheel. He definitely needed to be more aware of what he does.

He started up the car and they drove in comfortable silence to school - as they did every day.

--

Derek was uncomfortably aware that in first period, Casey had taken the seat behind him, when she would normally sit in the seat all the way across the room and at the front, where she could pay as much attention and take as many notes as possible.

It was halfway through class when Casey actually - and finally - did something; she poked his back. He turned his head slightly to her, talking out the corner of his mouth.

"What is it, spacey?" He whispered harshly, still confused as to why she was there and why she was smiling like she had just won a million dollars.

"I'm thinking of holding a fundraiser at school - to help the invisible children. Will you donate money to the fundraiser?" She asked quietly.

"Mrs. McDonald and Mr. Venturi! Do you have anything _important_ to share with the class?" Mrs. Johnson's shrill voice echoed through the classroom in accusation.

""No, Mrs. Johnson,"" both replied solemnly.

"I'm keeping my eyes on you two," she said, her voice just as shrill as the last time. Casey sighed in melancholy; she'd just have to talk with Derek after class, but it had to be done before lunch. Derek thanked the teacher silently for catching them talking, but couldn't help but wonder about the fundraiser - and who were the invisible children?! Sure did sound familiar.

--

After class, Casey chased Derek out of the door. He was aware of her footsteps behind him, trying to catch up. He stopped and turned suddenly, causing her to run into him.

"Watch where you're going, Klutzilla," he said, chuckling. She regained her composure, straightening out her shirt and flipping her brown curls behind her shoulder.

"Now about that fundraiser," she said, expecting a reply from him. He simply crossed his arms over his chest and raised one eyebrow. She sighed and continued. "I-I hate to say this but, I don't think anyone will come and I need your help."

"What?"

"Well, you know, you're popular, so could you help me get people to come?" She was nearly begging. And he knew that when it came to Casey and doing something for charity, she would not stop for anything. She had set her mind to it and she was almost on her knees, groveling for Derek's help - which seemed very ironic.

He grumbled something under his breath and left, not wanting to answer. Casey stood dumbfounded and dropped her head in sorrow, turning and trudging off to class.

--

It wasn't until lunch came around that Derek found out what he really wanted to know - what _kind_ of fundraiser was it. He found out all right - when he first stepped into the lunch room. Casey was standing on a chair in the middle of the lunch room - her loyal companion, Emily, standing at her side, holding up a poster. Casey had somehow gotten a hold of a megaphone and was pleading people to help the invisible children. From where he was standing, he could see the big, bold letters on the poster clearly - **CAR WASH**. Derek raised his eyebrows at that; he didn't imagine Casey working out all day, washing car after car after car - well, if anyone would come, it'd be that many cars. But, all it looked like was a comedy routine to most everyone. People were laughing and shaking their heads - some were rolling their eyes at such a Casey-like attempt.

Derek took his normal seat with Sam, Ralph, and a few other people. He could see Casey from where he sat. Sam nudged him and pointed to said-woman.

"Can you believe that? When does she ever stop?" Sam said, chuckling. Derek gave a shake of his head before standing from his seat and making a path towards Casey. He stopped beside her and pulled on her sleeve with a sigh. She looked down on him and raised her eyebrows, smiling wide.

"Are you going to help us with the carwash? Or bring the Prince to be washed?!" Casey asked excitedly. Derek shook his head and pulled Casey down from the chair. A confused look covered her features, but she did not protest while stepping off, but rather, continued to look confused.

"A car wash, Casey? I don't think that is such a great idea," he stated. Casey pouted and set the megaphone down, crossing her arms stubbornly over her chest.

"And why not?" She challenged. Derek didn't exactly wanted to express his feelings of seeing other people - mainly those of the male population - gawking at Casey's nice figure in a bathing suit that would most likely show more skin than what was comfortable for him. The very image in his mind brought a flush to his cheeks that wanted to make him hide his face and shut his eyes tightly, making sure to rid any of the inappropriate thoughts. Of course he couldn't tell _her_ all of that. I mean, what in the world would she think? Probably, the only thing that would cross her mind would be, _that incestuous freak! _Not to mention, Casey's best friend happened to be standing close by. The same best friend that didn't exactly have a reputation for being quiet and shy. Upon hearing whatever Derek would say to Casey, it would automatically spread through the school like a disease, penetrating each and every body. Everyone would hear. He definitely couldn't have that. So, he toughened up and stuck his chest out.

"Whatever, Casey," he said and turned to leave. He could practically hear Casey's eyes roll. He returned back to his seat and sat down, watching Casey as she stood up, once again, on the chair and began her escapade with the megaphone.

--

Hey, hey, hey. You just read my first chapter. It was rather short. Hmmm. So, please tell me what you think. I'm not even sure if I should continue. I'm thinking of just giving up. -sigh-

But, I've been checking out the Fairytale fandom and, whoa, they have some great stories. I am a giant fan of fairytales and all those Disney movies and stuff and after stumbling upon that fandom, a little story popped into my head. So, I think I will be writing one for it. It's untitled at the moment, so, yeah. -smile-


	2. CAR WASH part 1

Okay, thank you for the review. I'm very grateful for them. Okay, so in this chapter, you see Derek slowly going crazy, lol. That's what love does to you.  
**MissPopuri** - Okay, I never thought that I would be asked about who the invisible children are, but okay. There is a civil war going on right now in Uganda (in Africa). The rebels are going against the government and kidnapping children, usually ages 5-14, and are making them into soldiers to kill and kidnap other children.  
**_Also part of MissPopuri's review, but I would like everyone to read it._** Casey is sometimes not only clumsy in her actions, but clumsy in her thoughts, her words. So, that is how Derek will be. I guess he'd be a little more awkward. Like, instead of being that smooth-talking guy (-slaps self for using that phrase-), he'll stumble over words and such. Stumble in his action as well, I suppose. Okay, basically: a bit awkward. I'm not sure how to put it. It's a metaphor! Lol. "The wobbly, clumsy road to love" is what Derek is heading down sooner than he thought and is what Casey is heading down without realizing it. Oh, jeez, I'll continue at the end of the chapter. Just read! -smile-

Disclaimer: I do not own Life with Derek, _however_ I do own a spoon and an old VCR.

--

The ride home from school was a bit awkward for Derek, considering that the woman on his mind more often than it should have been lately was sitting a mere foot away, holding what bugged him the most - that darned sign. **CAR WASH**. It kept penetrating his mind. **CAR WASH**. Hello, and welcome to the **CAR WASH**. Save the invisible children. **CAR WASH**. It seemed to never leave. He'd turn his head away from the poster to look out the window and they'd be passing a car wash. **CAR WASH**. Derek groaned in frustration, causing Casey to look over at him in curiosity.

He glanced over at her, catching her eyes.** CAR WASH**. He groaned loudly once more and look away. He knew what the "**CAR WASH**" led to. His crazy, meshed family has been on vacations before. The beach. He'd seen her in a bathing suit. But, it wasn't like he had control then either. He'd run into her everywhere. He remembered one incident quite clearly; one that he hoped Casey had forgotten about.

It was the second night of the vacation in their little cabin on the beach. Derek had been lying awake in thrall, images of a woman who he'd rather not name floating through his head. Her beautiful hair, smile, eyes. Those gorgeous, deep, blue eyes that seemed to penetrate right into his soul whenever upon him. Her sparkling, keener personality.

He really needed to get out of bed, walk around, clear his head. He wobbled his way out of his room and down the hallway to the little kitchen. He nearly smacked himself once he entered. Standing at the island countertop, back turned towards him, hunched over something - most likely yogurt, knowing _her_ - was Casey, clad in shorts and a tank top that revealed more than comfortable - or at least, more than comfortable for _him_. Derek watched as Casey shifted her weight and cocked her head to the side, her hair falling over her left shoulder. He caught her face in the moonlight entering from the kitchen window. To say at the very least, she looked heavenly.

Derek had shook himself out of his trance and slowly walked to stand behind her. He felt as if all control over his body was lost at that moment, at that proximity. His right hand fell upon her hip and he could see her stiffen in mid-bite of - HA! He had been right - yogurt. Strawberry. Like her hair. He ran his other hand through her dark brown curls. She wasn't moving at all. She knew who was standing there, but couldn't process the reason behind his actions. Derek had leaned forward to smell her hair and upon the aroma entering his nostrils, he was free. He realized what was happening, as if the strawberry scent had some sort of power. He jumped back and turned away from her, bringing his hand up to his face to cover it in-in embarrassment. Embarrassment. It was something that he had never really felt before she came along and he darned her for it.

Derek felt a cold hand on his forearm. Cold and light. As light as little butterflies, kissing the summer-tanned skin of his arm. He felt the small hairs along his arm rise at her chilling touch. He pulled away, the feeling of her hand still there. It haunted him, followed him - all the way to his bed, where he laid. The sleepless night becoming a bitter oblivion; thoughts running through his over and over.

**CAR WASH**. It would never cease. He'd sometimes been able to bring this other person in his head - a young man dressed in a white, button-down shirt and baggy, black slacks, barefoot - this other person who would writhe and shout - curves! Bathing suit! **CAR WASH**! - to a halt, tie him to a chair in a dark corner, and force beer down his throat to break the solemn shouts. His words would mush and melt together into an incomprehensible slur that would satisfy Derek to no end.

A loud yell in Derek's ear brought him back to the present.

"Derek! What is wrong with you? I've been shouting your name for nearly five minutes now. The light is green!" By the sound of Casey's voice, he knew she was riled up. Her face probably held a flush of anger and frustration. Her voice was a warning: _do not look_. But, the young man in his head sent shouts: **Look! Don't you want to see her beautiful, flushed face?! Her gorgeous features stained because of _you_! **_Yes_, he immediately replied.

Derek turned his head to see Casey, staring at him - her face colored red, nose crinkled, worry lines creased into her forehead. Derek reached out and touched the creases as if to make them disappear.

"Don't do that, Spacey. You'll ruin your wrinkle-less face," he said quietly, then turned back to the road, pressing on the gas pedal in a fury. He was angry with the young man. _He made me do it! _He tried to reason. **You did it all by yourself. **The young man. Always pushing the blame on Derek. Derek did this. Derek did that. It was all Derek. Which, in reality, the young man _was_ Derek. A fierce, alternate Derek that had never been seen before she came along.

**CAR WASH**. That's what it all revolved around. Those two, simple words that would not leave him alone.

At upon shutting off the engine in the driveway, Derek hopped out of the car quickly and made a bee-line for the door, but was caught by Casey's cold hand on his. Why were her hands always cold? Maybe he was just always warm.

"What's wrong with you?" She asked. Derek looked down at her. **CAR WASH**. He groaned and shook his hand from hers and continued his walk to the front door. He made no stop when he entered the house; he kept his pace up until he entered his bedroom, closed the door, and fell on his bed.

**CAR WASH**.

--

"Casey, why don't you get Derek to come down?" Nora said, sighing in impatience because she had called for Derek several times. It was dinner and they always ate together. Casey sighed in response and nodded her head solemnly, getting up from her seat at the dinner table and making her way up the stairs.

Casey walked slowly down the hall to Derek's door. She paused before knocking on the cold wood. _Silence. _Casey took this as her permission to enter. She opened the door to see Derek laying on his bed, reading a hockey magazine. _Typical, _Casey thought as she entered his unbelievably messy room.

She stood by his bed, hands on hips and eyebrows raised. Derek sighed, keeping his eyes firmly on the magazine. He wasn't really reading it anyways; just staring at the bold text and uninteresting pictures, thinking. He was lost in his own little world, having an arguement with the young man - him - someone! Someone that liked all too much to think of the step-sibling by his side. When she wouldn't leave, he set the magazine down and looked up at her. **CAR WASH**. He inwardly groaned at the thought. But, he forcefully made himself forget everything about it. Or at least, for now.

"What?" He finally asked. Casey shifted her weight to her other foot before speaking.

"Mom has been calling for you to come down for dinner." Of course she had. He heard her. He just really didn't want to come down. He'd been thinking. Shocking, yes, but very true. He'd been thinking way too much.

"And?" He stood up from his bed to be taller than Casey, hopefully intimidating her - which, much to her dismay, he did. Of course, she wouldn't allow him to know that. She stood her ground and crossed her arms over her chest, hoping to portray a look of gallantry.

"Don't you think you should come down?" She asked. Derek raised his eyebrows. Of course he should, but he wasn't going to.

"Not really." Casey let out a fumed breath, obviously irritated that Derek wouldn't just get his freaking butt down to the dinner table. Couldn't he compromise just once? Once?! Of course not, because he's Derek freaking Venturi.

"God, Derek. Can't you just do as we ask for once? Would it kill you to be a little more co-" It all changed. Everything. Their perspectives, lives, worlds. . .all turned upside down._ What the hell are you doing?! _Echoed through both Derek's and Casey's head. Repeatedly. _What the hell are you doing? What the hell are you doing? What the _hell_ are you doing? _

Doesn't he consider his actions before doing them? Doesn't he think? Doesn't he understand what could happen? Doesn't he understand the internal conflict he's thrusting upon her?

Of course not. Because if he did, his lips wouldn't be on hers.

--

Waaa, I feel like these chapters might get shorter and shorter...NOOOO! I'll work on the length. In the mean time, you guys can review!! YAY! -steals Dasey cookies from PinkJelly and hands them out to everyone- Have a nice day. -smile-


	3. In Too Deep

Haha. I didn't expect to get so many reviews. Well, to me, it's a lot of reviews! Thank you guys so much! -steals more of Kat's Dasey cookies and hands them out- Sorry Kat...Don't tell her. -holds finger up to mouth- Shhhhh. Lol.  
**MissPopuri (wow, you're getting so many replies. You're nearly famous now! Lol)** - Oh, no problem. I'm glad to let you know about them! Haha, yeah, CAR WASH! Those images just keep on flashing into his mind, eh? -wink wink- Hehe. Yeah, this is a pretty tough challenge for me. I'm an only child. I try to think like Derek, but in my opinion, this story is very OOC. Lol. But, I'm glad you like it!  
Inspiration for this chapter: "In Too Deep" by Sum 41. Oh, yeah. Derek is in deeeeep. Lol. -smile-

Disclaimer: I do not own Life with Derek, _however_ I do own a spoon, an old VCR, and a busted DVD player.

--

He was in some serious doo-doo. Some that really stunk. Badly. He knew that from the moment he realized his lips were on hers - which was about 10 seconds after the initial action. Of course, she wasn't exactly pulling away, but she wasn't kissing back either. Knowing her, Derek figured she was probably in shock. And she was. She stood there, her mind telling her to leave, push him away, bitch-slap for crying out loud! Something! Act! But, she didn't. And nearly 30 seconds went by before Derek pulled away to look awkwardly at his bed.

She stared at his face, not sure of what to say. She wasn't even sure what was going through his mind at the moment. Casey opened her mouth to say something - anything, but nothing came out. She closed her mouth, turned around, and left his room, closing the door behind her. She calmly walked down to her waiting family.

"He isn't feeling very well and now that I think about it, neither am I. Good night," she said robotically and went back to her room, leaving the family to look after her in an air of confusion.

Derek was feeling just about as confused as his family. Sure, he knew that he kissed Casey. He also knew why - for the most part. But, he didn't understand why he didn't say anything and why she didn't either. Of course, he expected her to be in state of shock - he was too, but the way he imagined her reaction after pulling away would have been something along the lines of 'De-_rek_! What the hell was that?! Have you completely lost all of your sanity?!' Or something like that. But, no, instead she had to go and surprise him - like she sometimes did - and catch him off guard. He had built up plenty of excuses - lapse of sanity, she wouldn't shut up, etc...But, now he wasn't able to use them - yet, he thought.

He shook his head, trying to get rid of everything, although that would virtually impossible at this point. With a sigh, he collapsed, face-first, onto his bed, exhausted, and fell asleep.

--

Derek woke up in a hazy fog. **Way to go, man**, sounded in his head. He groaned, thinking back to the night before. He had prayed that it had all been a dream, but it was too real, yet too surreal at the same time - meaning that it really happened and he was an idiot. _It's going to be a looong day_, he thought. **Tell me about it**, came a very unwanted reply.

After getting through the necessary activities to start a day, he skipped out on breakfast, heading straight to his car. He decided on not waiting for Casey today - she probably went ahead anyways with her nerves the way he imagined them. The ride to school was too quiet for him. It gave him too much time to think - something he'd rather not do. Right now, he'd rather be busy, keeping his mind on something else, avoiding everything - he was rather good at it. So, he sped to school to cut the quiet time shorter and took no waste in getting into the school and heading to some place he promised himself to never go near again - the guidance counselor's office.

Derek practically ran into the office only to be met with Ca-let's just leave her un-named and Paul Greeby. The girl's eyes widened at his sudden entrance and Paul had a smile that made Derek's stomach acids curdle. _Oh, boy_, he thought to himself. **Get out of there, get out of there**. He quickly turned to leave, but was stopped by Paul.

"Derek! We were just talking about you," Derek groaned. "Come in. Let's talk." **_I'd rather not_**.

"Oh, Paul," Derek started, turning around and planting a fake smile on his face. "I've really got to be. . .over there," he pointed out the door, "right now. We'll chat later, 'kay?" Derek turned back and darted out, slamming the office door behind him.

He couldn't go to Sam. Sure, it was probably the man thing to do and what he should really do, but he couldn't. Toying with your best friend's ex-girlfriend and now friend isn't exactly smart - not that he was toying with her or anything. Was he? He didn't know. _Of course, I am_. **Psssh, yeah, okay**. _What's that suppose to mean? _He yelled back. **Think about it**. Great; he was getting suggestions from a voice in his head. Was that even healthy? He didn't exactly think so, but it's not like he was going to go see Paul anytime soon with-with _her_ in there.

He quietly stalked off to first period at the sound of the bell, dreading every step of the way. First period means forty-five, long, long minutes of being in the same classroom as Casey. Not good for his sanity at the moment. He contemplated on whether he should just skip or not. Maybe he was making a big deal out of this. Maybe all it was was some giant, abstruse triviality that didn't really matter to his existence. **Who are you fooling**?

He let out a groan upon walking into the classroom and begrudgingly took his seat next to Sam - someone who could probably keep his mind off things right now. He quickly turned to Sam, trying to pay attention to the jabbering that was firing at him. He caught, "totally not working out," "soccer guy," and "hate this." Wow. It seemed like Sam was having a hard day.

"Dude, did you hear me?" Sam said with a shove at Derek's shoulder. Derek shook his head and tried to focus.

"Wha-what?"

"D, why is Casey staring at you? And what's with the look on her face?" Sam was obviously staring at said person.

_Don't look, don't look, don't look_. **Oh, would it really hurt that much**? _Maybe_. He regretted it the second he turned his head to catch Casey's glare. Literal _glare_. She seemed pissed now and Derek nearly cowered back in fear. She must have spilled to Emily - of course - because she wasn't the only one glaring. So was Emily and her mouth was flying a mile a minute. To him, they were coming up with some vicious plan to mutilate his body to where he was so crippled that he was bedridden and must be sent away to be taken care of. It didn't occur to him that that was an exaggeration, but his thoughts weren't clear.

"And why is Emily glaring, too? What'd you do now?" _You don't want or need to know_. Derek turned his head back to Sam at the sound of his voice.

Derek simply shrugged and mumbled a simple, "I don't know."**_ Liar. _**He was probably going to have to get used to lying even more often. He could imagine his dinner tonight.

"Derek, what'd you do to Casey this time? She seems pissed," Edwin would lean in and whisper and Derek give a shrug, shaking his head, acting confused. "Casey, are you okay?" Nora would ask a couple minutes into dinner with a concerned expression. And when Casey would shrug and - hopefully - say nothing, she'd receive concerned glances from Nora and Lizzie all night. Marti would sense tension between Derek and Casey, but wouldn't bug him about it until after dinner, right before bed. George would be oblivious until notified by Nora that something was wrong - or at least, not normal wrong, but wrong wrong.

"Are you sure you didn't do anything?" Derek was brought back to the present and quickly glanced over at Casey again to see a sad look on her face, but it quickly changed to the same evil glare. **She's hiding something**. _You don't know that_. He could see the young man roll his eyes.

Derek let out a sigh and looked down at the desk, deciding not to answer Sam's question.

--

The day wouldn't go fast enough for Derek. An array of different glances was being sent to him by Casey all the way to lunch. He couldn't even make out half of them. He had a strange feeling that a lot of people have been staring at him all day - whispers floating, rumors spreading. . .

Emily! He groaned inwardly. Darn her. She probably informed everyone - not good.

Derek had done a pretty good job of keeping away from as little amount of people possible until lunch, where he was confronted by a few football team members.

"So, Venturi, I heard you were getting freaky with your sister," said footballer 1.

"Step-sister," Derek mumbled quietly.

"Yeah, someone said you were making out," said footballer 2.

"What the hell?" Derek mumbled confusedly - a little louder than last time.

"Did you use a condom?"

"That's sick, man."

"Your own sister?"

"You incestuous freak." They all busted out laughing. Their high pitched, annoying laughs meshed together in swirl, taunting Derek. _Condom. Sick. Sister. Incestuous freak._ It all swirled around him, clouding his thoughts in a fiery rage. Derek clenched his fists and stood up quickly, taking a wild punch at footballer 1 - the one who called him an incestuous freak.

Footballer 1 stumbled backwards, clutching his nose.

"Joe!" Footballer 3 yelled, holding him up.

"You're going to pay for that, Venturi," Joe spit out between a few coughs and groans.

"Whatever," Derek said, grabbing his backpack and leaving the cafeteria with several stunned people watching. **More like half the school watching**. That was going to bite him in the butt; he could just sense it.

--

It's going to be a bit violent in the next chapter and there might be some language. But, please review!! The more reviews, the faster the update!


	4. Sick?

Okay, so, I have a perfectly reasonable, very long explanation as to why I haven't updated in 2 weeks, but due to it being so darn long, you guys are just going to have to settle for an "I'm sorry." So...I'm sorry. -smile-  
**About violence: **I am actually putting that off due to other plans for this chapter...and maybe the next chapter. I don't know. I'm sort of going with the flow at the moment. Although, there might be some violence from Casey. :OOO Haha.  
By the way: I have no idea what time their school starts, so I'm going for 7 to 7:30. -shrug- Whatever.

Disclaimer: blah, blah, blah, me no owny Life with Derek, blah, blah, blah, too lazy for correct grammar. On with the show! Err, story!

--

_Cough_. That is the first, _beautiful_ thing that Derek had to wake up to. (Notice blatant sarcasm.) More precisely, a cough followed by 2 sneezes, a groan, one more cough, and whopping headache was the first, _beautiful _thing Derek woke up to. Derek plopped back down on his pillow, giving up on trying to sit up - the splitting headache had convinced him to. **Jeez, what a migrane!** And not to mention. . ._that_.

Derek rubbed his puffy, red eyes and craned his neck towards his digital clock. It read 6:30. He groaned at the time - if he didn't get up now, he'd probably be late for school - again. But, with the way he felt, he figured that staying in bed for a good one or two weeks would be sufficient enough to fuel him for school, hockey, and not to mention all those lovely women lined up at his locker waiting for fawn, bat their eyes, and throw cash at him for _just one, single date, for heaven's sake_!

After a good five minutes of lying in bed, a knock sounded from his door, followed by a sincere, nice call, "Derek? You're not feeling sick as well, are you?" **_As well?!_** Derek attempted to sick up and managed to crawl himself up into a sloppy, half-sitting, half-laying position. Deciding that the silence was permission, Nora waltzed through the door and gasped at Derek's pale complexion.

"What's up, Nora?" Derek croaked out, giving out a loud cough, followed by a weak smirk. Nora rushed over a placed the back of her hand to his forehead. She frowned and pulled away.

"Oh, dear. Just like Casey." **_Casey? _**Derek's ears perked up at Nora's comment.

"Just like Casey?" He said after clearing his throat - maybe from nervousness or the fact that he was practically choking on phlegm. Nora nodded sadly.

"She looks just as pitiful as you do," she stated. It Derek could have paled even more, he would have. _Casey's sick? _**Good job, doofus**. _What?_ **It's most likely your fault**. Derek shook his head, realizing he'd just been practically insulted by himself - sort of.

"I'll be back in a second with a thermometer. I'm going to go check on Casey," Nora said, with a stressed expression upon her face. Derek simply nodded wearily as Nora rushed out of the room.

A few minutes passed before Nora returned with a thermometer. She forcifully plopped it in his mouth and stood with her hands on her hips - almost mirroring Casey, except motherly. The thermometer beeped, signally it was finished. Nora's frown deepened as she read the termperature.

"101 degrees. Same as Casey's. I wonder if there is something going around school," she said with a sigh, looking back up at Derek. "Both of you are staying home." **YES! **_Both? Oh, no. _"Are you able to get up?" She asked as Derek complied, making an attempt to stand and succeeding. "Okay, let's go. Casey's already downstairs," she said, dragging Derek carefully by the arm out of his room.

One they made it down the stairs - careful that Derek didn't be overcome by a surge of dreariness, leaving Nora to carry his weight, so he wouldn't plunge down the steps and possibly break some bones or crack open his skull - she set Derek down on the living room couch next to Casey with a tired sigh.

"You two wait right here," she said, leaving.

"Where would we go?" Derek muttered, only Casey hearing him and rolling her eyes in response to his eagerness to whittingly quip comments at lightning speed, while having a temperature over 101 degrees - and if he was feeling anything like her at the moment, maybe a little neaseous as well, but that very well could have been from the fact that the thin cotton of his pajama bottoms were brushing against the bare skin of her thigh and the way the skin on her arm tingled from the touch of his.

Derek triedly stretched out, letting his arms fall limp along the back of the couch, careful that his left one didn't hang too closely to Casey - she's grumpy when she's sick. Casey felt kind of sad to feel his arm leave hers, but it was probably for the better - it was_ his_ fault afterall that they were sick. With all the girls that entertains, she wouldn't be surprised if he had at least ten different bugs.

"Who'd you catch it from?" Casey asked angrilly - her thoughts of getting sick because of his stupidity making her quiver with rage. Stupid Derek. Derek coughed into his right hand, looking the opposite way from Casey.

"Err, you," he said, moving just his eyes to peer at her. Casey jerked her head towards him, her eyes narrowing into dangerous slits - oh yeah, she was grumpy alright. Casey brought a shaky finger up to Derek's face to point at him accusingly.

"_You _are the one who got _me_ sick, you bimbo."

"HA! Don't think so highly of yourself - not everyone has the honor of catching colds from me, you know," he said, crossing his arms and smirking in triumph.

"What?. . .Derek that isn't exactly anything to boast about," Casey stated, confused and a little worried that Derek might have lost even more IQ points - must be all that hockey. He did get hit in the head several times last week with the puck after all.

Nora came into the living room at that, phone in hand and muttering words to someone on the other, "Yes, thank you. . .alright. . .goodbye." Click. "That was the doctor. He'll be here soon," Nora said, setting the phone down on the coffee table. "He informed me of some helpful medicines and foods for both of you, so until he arrives, I'll be out and getting that. Don't kill each other. . .please," Nora said sincerely.

"Sure thing, Nora."

"Of course, Mom."

"Alright, kids," she muttered, gathering up her things, waving goodbye, and leaving.

"Now what?" Derek asked.

"Get your hand off my thigh?" Casey said, staring at it. Derek looked down and jumped to the other side of the couch. **Don't pretend that you don't wish your hand was still there. **_Shut up._

_--_

This was shorter than normal, but I'm pretty tired. I had tons of things that I did today. So, please review. Err, violence will be spoken of later. I don't know. GAAA!


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